The book of Jude Lesson 1

Jude

Lesson 1

Hi ! Welcome to this Bible Study of the Book of Jude! This is a short Book of the Bible but one which is very pertinent for us today. So, join us as we see what Jude, who wrote this almost 2000 years ago, has to say to us today! I think you will find that the message of Jude is just as appropriate for us as it was to the original recipients.

For those of you who have done our Bible studies before, you know that we do our studies, not by reading someone's thoughts or words, but by doing various fun and interesting assignments. And, that is what we will do in this study also. So, let's begin! And, the first thing we want to do is to find out what kind of "literature" this book is!

So, your assignment now, should you choose to accept it, is to read the entire book of Jude. And, as you read, mark the following 3 words:

1. God (the Father) and all words, such as He, Him, His, etc., used in place of His name. I marked these words by putting a Blue Triangle on each of the "God the Father" words. (However, when you are marking this or any other words or doing any assignments, you do not have to use my symbols or colors or methods but you can use any color and symbol that you prefer. What I do is only a suggestion.)

2. Jesus and all words used in place of His name (Lord, Christ, He, Him, etc.). I marked the Jesus words by putting a Blue Cross on every occurrence of these words.

3. Holy Spirit and all words, such as He, Him, His, etc. used in place of His name. I mark these words by putting a large Blue V on each occurrence of His name or words used in place of His name. Why a large "V", you ask. Well, because this looks to me like a seagull or a bird in flight ... not that the Holy Spirit is a bird or seagull, but because He is usually represented in artwork as a bird or dove descending from heaven.

And, as always, before you begin to read or study any portion of Scripture, we need to pray ... so pray with me: "Father, God, as I begin to read and study Your Word, I ask that You will show me Your truth and Your will. Help me to not just read words but to understand what You are saying and to apply it to my life. In Jesus' name. Amen."

OK, you have your assignment. So, stop now and read the entire book of Jude, (which is printed below for you, but if your prefer to use your own Bible or another translation, of course, feel free to do so), and, as you read, mark the God the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit words. When you have finished, there will be some questions to answer, so pay attention to what your are reading, as I know you will.

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Jude (NIV)

1. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ:

2. Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

3. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

4. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.

6. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home--these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8. In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.

9. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

10. Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals--these are the very things that destroy them.

11. Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

12. These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm--shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted--twice dead.

13. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones

15. to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

16. These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

17. But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.

18. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires."

19. These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

20. But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

21. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22. Be merciful to those who doubt;

23. snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

24. To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy--

25. to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

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Well, I see that you have finished. Now, based on what you have read, answer the following questions:

? What kind of "literature" is the book of Jude? From these different types of literature which are found in the Bible, circle your answer:

History........ Law........ Prophecy........ Poetry......... Biography........ A Letter

Yes, if you said this is a LETTER, you are absolutely positively correct!

And, since this is a letter, Who is the Author (writer) of the letter: ______________

And, to whom is Jude writing? Does he actually name the individual or individuals to whom he is writing?

Circle your answer: ..............................Yes................ No

No, Jude does not directly name the recipients of this letter. But, from what he says, do you get the idea that they are a Church group, a group of Believers in Christ?

Circle your answer:............................... Yes................ No

How do you know that they are Christians (Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ)?

(Hint: before you answer this, read verse 1 again. Then, write your answer in the space below.)

Correct! Jude does seem to be writing to a group of Believers (Christians), because he describes them as those "who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ." Obviously this is describing a Christian.

So, with that in mind, let's reread the book of Jude. And, this time, as you read, put a Big Orange J (or color and symbol of your choice) on every occurrence of the word Jude or words used in the place of the word, Jude (I, me, my, etc.). Also, put a Big Green Y (or color and symbol of your choice) on every occurrence of any words (you, your, etc.) used to refer to the recipients (the "you") of this letter.

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Ok, I see that you have finished. Now, based on what you have read and marked, answer the following questions:

? What did you learn about Jude? What does he tell us about himself? In the space provided below, list at least 3 things that you we are told about Jude in this letter. (Hint: see verses 1 and 3)

____________________________________

? What had Jude originally intended to write about in this letter? (v. 3)

____________________________________

? But, what did Jude write about instead? (v. 3)

____________________________________________________________

Yes, you are correct if you said that Jude had originally intended to write to them about "salvation" but instead he wrote to them about the need to "contend for the faith". If you are reading KJV or some other versions, you will probably notice that the phrase is "earnestly contend for the faith" or some similar phrase.

Hmmmm. Earnestly contend for the faith! Interesting. Why did he say that? And what was going on? Why did he need to give them this warning? Well, to find the answer to that, it is time for another assignment.

So, your assignment now is to reread the book of Jude, and, this time, as you read, look for the OTHER PEOPLE who are mentioned. You will notice that these people are not specifically named as a Tom, Dick, or Harry, but we see them referred to by such words as "certain men", "godless men", "dreamers", "these men", "scoffers", "shepherds", etc. and words used in place of these words such as they, them, their, etc. So, as you read Jude, every time you see one of these "other people" words, mark it. The way I marked each of these words was to put a Brown or Black circle around the word and drew a picture of a "frowny face" inside the circle. But, of course, you can use a color and symbol of your choice.... perhaps a little stick figure of a man or whatever. You decide what you want to do. The point is not the symbol or the color but the fact that you are taking specific note of these OTHER people and what they do, believe, and teach.

Ok. Do your assignment, which is to read the book of Jude and mark all the "other people" words. When you have finished, we will, of course, have some more questions for you to answer.

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Well, I see that you have finished again. And, wasn't that interesting!? Yes. So, let's think about what you have read. For this is the real key to the reason why Jude is writing to this group of Christians.

You will recall that Jude had originally planned to write to them to explain to them in more detail about (v.3) ________________________________ , but, instead he was writing to them to urge them to (v.3) _________________________________________________.

Why did Jude need to switch the intended focus of his letter from teaching them more about their salvation and to instead instruct them to "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints"? Why did they need to "earnestly contend for the faith"? What had happened? What problems or difficulties had arisen that needed to be addressed and "contended for"? What specific things were happening? What did they need to recognize as error? What was the APOSTASY that was entering the Church?

Well, as you noticed as you marked the "other people" words, several things had happened and were happening IN the church - things that were destructive and would ultimately (v. 19) ______________ them, yes would ultimately divide them and would seriously dilute and destroy the true understanding and practice of their faith.

Let's look at some of those things now. Why? Because, just as Jude was warning the Believers in the church of his day, similar problems are present in the Church today, so we, too, need to be aware, alert, and to "contend earnestly for the faith."

So, your assignment now is to list, in the first column of the chart provided below, several things that Jude warned them about - things that were happening in their church. Also note the verse where the problem is addressed. Then, in the right hand column, IF you see that there is a parallel problem or difficulty existing in the church of today, note that with a brief summary statement of what the current parallel of that problem would be. Be as specific as possible.

As an example, for the first item in the first column (Problems in Jude's day), I wrote:

(v.4) certain godless men have secretly slipped in among you and are changing the grace of God into a license for immorality

and in the column to the right (Problems in the Church today), I wrote:

In the church today there are also godless men who have slipped in and are saying that we can do anything we want and then just confess this as sin and that God will forgive.--but that we don't have to change our lifestyle...just sin and confess, sin and confess, ... and all will be well.

And, as another example, for my second item in column 1 (Problems in Jude's day), I wrote:

(v.4) these godless men deny that Jesus Christ is our only Sovereign and Lord.

Then in the right hand column (Problems in the Church today), I wrote:

there are many today that deny Jesus as and say that there are MANY ways to salvation and that we don't have to make Jesus our Sovereign and Lord.. but, rather, we are our own "boss" and can do whatever we want because we are 'gods' too.

Ok! Now it is your turn. You can begin with the 2 things I wrote, or use your own words. Then continue on with this chart as you go through the rest of the Letter from Jude, recording in the frist column, the problems he was telling them about ... and noting, in the second column, any similarities or parallel situations in the Church today. (If there is not enough room on this chart, feel free to use a separate piece of paper.)

Apostasy in the Church

Problems in Jude's day.................................. Problems in the church today

(v.4) certain godless men have secretly slipped in

among you and are changing the grace of God

into a license for immorality

(v 4) (these) godless men deny that Jesus Christ is our

Sovereign and Lord.

Well, I see that you have finished. And, WOW ! Isn't it amazing! Things do not seem to have changed much in the almost 2000 years since Jude first penned these words. There were people in the church in Jude's day who as members, pastors, and teachers, were corrupting the true doctrine of the Church and introducing heresy and apostasy. Jude was warning the Church of his day of this and specifically told them to (v. 3) _______________________ for the faith that had been entrusted to them. But, alas and alack, it is obvious that many, if not all, of these same problems are present in many of our Churches today. Therefore, Jude's words of warning are also pertinent to us today.

So, as we bring this lesson to a close, let's think about the words of warning in this letter. For, Jude is also warning us (you, me, and all the Believers today) to also (v. 3) earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

Think about this; think about your life and your Church. Are any of these false teachings in the Church you attend? And, even more importantly, are any of these false teachings in your life? Are you living a life that incorporates any or all of these wrong understandings of "the faith that has been entrusted to you"? Have you changed the "grace of our God into a license for immorality"? Do you deny that Jesus Christ is the only Sovereign and Lord? Do you pollute your own body by doing immoral things and think that God doesn't notice or care? Do you reject the Authority of God and "do your own thing"? Do you reject God's Word and His truth? Are you more concerned about temporal things than the eternal? ... Well, you get the idea. The point is that we (you and I) need to stop now, before going any farther in the study of the book of Jude, and evaluate our lives. And, if there is anything that is a departure from the faith, that needs to be changed, and we need to change it NOW.

So, stop NOW and spend some time in prayer, thinking about your life, and talking with God your Father about this. Ask Him to show you where you have departed from the truth and from the way that He desires for you to live and love and serve Him. And, when He points things out to you, by bringing things to your "remembrance," agree with Him, acknowledge your sin, and ask His forgiveness. Then, tell Him that you want to turn from and abandon these wrong ways of living. And ask Him to help you make Jesus the Lord of your life and to help you to live a life pleasing to Him.

Take all the time you need to do this "assignment" of talking with God about your life. And, we will continue our study of Jude in the next lesson. See you there!

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Scriptures unless otherwise indicated are taken from

the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Used by permission of Zondervan Publishers.

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